"Damn," I cursed "I look like a panda." I touched the bags under my eyes, thanks to the nightmares I had last night. "What the hell was that all about? Sungmin's perfectly fine."
I walked out of the house after looking at my terrible bags. I walked down the street again and into the store. "Hello Kyuhyun." Sungmin greeted me, I looked at him. He seemed pretty tired. "Hey, didn't get enough rest?" He shook his head. "What are you doing here, again?" Heeyoung empathize on the word again.
"Why are you chasing away a customer?"
"When did you even buy anything?"
"I bought a bottle of coke recently."
"Yeah, that was like $1.45." She rolled her eyes and continued to mop the floor. Sungmin was packing some bottled drinks. "Need my help?" I asked. "Eh..? Ah, uh no." He smiled at me.
I continued to stare at him until he dropped a few bottles. "Ah..." He seemed out of it, I waved my left hand in front of his eyes. "Hello, earth to Sungmin." He snapped out of it. "Oh, sorry." He picked up the bottles that were rolling on the floor. Heeyoung helped him. "Again? This is the forth time today Sungmin. I think you've overworked your body. Maybe you should take the rest of the day off." What? Forth time?
"No, I'm perfectly alright."
"If you were, you'd not be dropping so many things." Heeyoung mumbled. "Or maybe he's just hungry." I spoke after a long pause.
"That's true, it is my lunch time." Heeyoung sighed. "Okay, you can go, but hurry back~"
"Thanks Heeyoung." Sungmin walked out of the store, and like yesterday, Heeyoung glared at me. "What exactly is it you want?" She spat.
"It's. None. Of. Your. Business~" I stuck my tongue at her before leaving the store. I could see her fuming behind me. That felt really good. "Hey Sungmin, wait up!" I shouted, he paused. "Sorry." He apologized. "Now where shall we eat?" I changed the topic.
"What about the new fast food restaurant around the corner?"
"Sure."
--
"Hey, Sungmin, what did Heeyoung mean by forth time?" I popped another piece of popcorn chicken into my mouth. "I don't want to talk about it, let's talk about something else, did anything interesting happen yesterday?"
"Don't try to avoid my question."
"Yesterday I did my assessment books before going to sleep, so I'm pretty tir-"
"Answer me Sungmin."
"Well Kyuhyun, I'm not sure what's going on myself!" Sungmin stood up from the table and left. I ran after him, but damn, he runs fast. I was chasing him when suddenly, he fell onto the rough pavement. I ran faster.
I held him. "Sungmin! Are you alright?" That's when I noticed what I couldn't see from behind. His chin was bleeding profusely, I looked at his palms, no signs of him using his hands to protect himself. I picked him up and ran to the store. "Welcome back Sungmi- WHAT HAPPENED?!" She screamed, the customers covered their ears. "Ah, uh sorry." She apologized. "What happened to Sungmin!" She demanded. "He fell down." I answered, "Do you have any big plasters?" Heeyoung searched through her bag and took out a disinfectant and plaster.
Soon, Sungmin's chin was covered by a huge piece of plaster. "Sorry, for making you two worry." Sungmin apologized. I looked at his shirt, it was stained with blood here and there.
I started to get worried, but maybe it's because he was sick.
'Yeah right kyuhyun, you should start to wake up and smell the coffee.'

Labels: a second chance, angst, kyumin

I went home as per normal, ate with my family as per normal, did everything like what I would do on a normal day. No one asked me how my day was, no one asked me if everything was alright. As per normal. "Sungjin, get off my bed and get out of my room."
"Why?" He stuck his tongue out at me. "Before I do tickle you."
"Fine..!" He stomped his foot as he left my room. Having a naughty younger brother does not help to relieve stress. It adds on to it. I lay down on my bed, thinking about today's events.

"What does you parents work as?" I asked, he seemed pretty well off, so I deduced that his father must have a high position. "Hmm, he is a business man, hardly spends time with me, when he is free, he spends it with my mum. So we're kind of awkward."
"Oh.."
"What about yours?"
"My dad is also a business man, and my mum is a lawyer."
"I see.."

'Looks like we're on the same boat' I thought. Since I had the time and I wasn't that tired, I decided to do some maths sums before sleeping. I got up and walked over to my neatly arranged table. I sat on the chair and took out an assessment book, mechanic pencil and eraser. I flipped open the book to the page where I left off, 'Ah, question seven.'
I started to working on the sum, writing down the formulas. After writing finish the first formula and about to finish writing the second one, my mechanic lead broke. 'Strange.' I thought. I press the top and wrote again, the lead broke again. I bit my lower lip as the process went on, causing different shades of gray to be seen.
After doing finish that page, I wanted to double check my answers, but I got quite a shock. My handwriting was messy, it was very messy. I looked at my handwriting in my previous pages, they were so neat!
I shut the book. 'You're just tired Sungmin, yeah, you're just tired.' I convinced myself. I switched off my lights and went to sleep.
--
(Kyuhyun's P.O.V)

"Sungmin..." I held his hands. "Why.. You said you wouldn't leave me.." I cried as I looked at his pale face. "Sorry.." He managed, trying to smile at me. But he closed his eyes and his hand fell from my grip. "Beeeeeeeep."

"WOAH!" I shouted, my eyes opened straight away. What kind of a dream was that?! I wiped my forehead and felt sweat. Ew, fancy sweating in an air-conditioned room. I looked at my alarm clock, a bright red 2:37am was displayed. I sighed as I went back to sleep, only to get that same nightmare.

Labels: a second chance, angst, kyumin

The next day at work, Kyuhyun showed up. "Kyuhyun, you do know that this is a job right?" I asked. "Yeah, I know that."
"And why are you here anyway? Packing lunch for me to eat in addition."
"Just because." I rolled my eyes. "Heeyoung, it's my lunch break, I'm going now." Heeyoung ran towards me and looked at me and Kyuhyun, her eyes bouncing back and forth. "Stop that, you're freaking me out." I joked. She frowned at me. "Alright then, come back soon~"
As I left, I turned around and saw her glaring at Kyuhyun for a moment before realizing I was looking at her. She smiled sweetly at me again. "Come back soon~"
Kyuhyun chuckled before exiting the store. "I think she likes you."
"What? Me? Don't joke around Kyuhyun."
"Really, she glared at me with the 'Don't you dare to touch him or I'll kill you' kind of look."
"As if." I slapped his arm lightly. "Where are we going anyway?" He asked.
"Since you packed lunch, let's go to the park and eat."

We talked while walking to the nearby park. It was really enjoyable talking to him. Somehow, I felt like I could trust him. We talked about our likes and dislikes. Much to my surprise, he share lots of my interests.
We found an empty bench in the middle of the park and decided to sit on it, because the scenery in front was really nice. A fountain, lots of blossoming flowers and growing trees. He unpacked the container and it was filled to the brim.
Seaweed, fishcakes, fish, chicken, vegetables... all sorts of food could be found in there. My mouth formed into a grin as I separated the wooden chopsticks.
I tried the fried chicken first, and it was really heavenly, I tried the rest of the dishes. I felt like as if I was eating food from a five-star restaurant, yes, it was THAT good. Why didn't Kyuhyun tell me he could cook so well? "Kyuhyun, how did you learn all these?"
He looked away, "I know how to cook. Genius aren't I?"
I raised a brow, "Where did you learn how to cook from?"
"Uh...." I picked up a piece of sushi. The taste was familiar, like I had eaten it somewhere before. "AH! YOU BOUGHT THE FOOD!" I shouted. "N-NO! I COOKED THEM!"
"Riight Kyuhyun, riiight." I joked, eating more of the sushi. He pouted in defeat. "Fine, I bought them, but at least I paid."
"It isn't the same as cooking it Kyuhyun."
"Hahhh.."
We ate in silence after that. Once we ate finished, we packed up to go back to the store. I walked beside Kyuhyun. "Thanks for the lunch anyway."
He gave me a big grin. "Your welcome!"
I pushed open the store's door. "By the way, are you planning on staying here until my shift ends?"
"Maybe."
"You're hopeless." Heeyoung came out of the store room holding some packets of biscuits. "Min~ I need your help to put there packets on the shelf." I took them from her with ease. She turned to Kyuhyun and glared at him again. "Mister, if you aren't going to buy anything, I suggest to get out."
"Okay, okay, I'll see you tomorrow Sungmin?"
"Ah, sure!" I shouted. I walked towards the biscuits shelf but suddenly, my feet stopped moving and my hands dropped everything it was carrying. I tried to bend down and pick up the goods but my body wouldn't move. On top of that, my eyesight suddenly became a blur. I looked at my palms, they look like they were seen by those who have three hundred degrees. "Wha..?" I mumbled. Heeyoung rushed to my side. "SUNGMIN! Are you okay?" She moved her hands in front of my face. When I looked at her hands, my eyesight suddenly came back in focus.
"Ah Sungmin, you're okay now?"
"Yeah, thanks Heeyoung..."
"Let me help you." We picked up the goods together and placed them on the shelf nicely. "Sungmin, are you tired? I think you should take a day off tomorrow."
"No, I'm fine."
"Don't overwork yourself okay?" I didn't answer. I was shocked, confused and scared.
I knew for sure that I did not accidentally drop the biscuits, and I knew that I wasn't tired at all. So what just happened to me?

Labels: a second chance, angst, kyumin

Sungmin's POV(for this chapter, I just felt like it lol;_;)

"Thank you, please come again~" I bid the customer goodbye as he left the shop. Actually, I didn't really feel as happy as my voice sounded. I was really tired. I burned the midnight oil last night studying the topic for next year. Some people say I'm psychotic for studying so early, but next year is my third year, in other words, my last year in school. And I want to graduate with flying colours too.
Another customer passed me a bottle of coke and I scanned it. Before I could say "$.145" to him, he already put the money on the counter. Feeling weird, I looked at him and my eyes widened. "Aren't you Kyuhyun?" I asked. He looked at me, first came shock, then astonishment. "Woah, what're you doing here?!" He shouted. It was really embarrassing since I was still working.
"I work here." I answered. ""I can see that, but you live around here?"
"A few blocks away." I took the money on the counter and put it in the cash register.
"I see, hmm.. Sorry to bother, but is this job why you only visit her once a week?"
"I wouldn't put it that way, I have to study too."
"You're in high school?"
"Yeah, what about you?"
"Same here. What time is it now?" I looked at my blue digital watch. "6.50" I replied him.
"I think I got to go then, I'll talk to you some other time." He seemed really anxious to leave but reluctant. "Bye." I forced out, trying not to show how saddened I was that he had to leave. I mean, I didn't have any special feelings towards him, it's just that I was sad he couldn't stay a little longer. My shift was about to end soon anyways. A sigh escaped my mouth as soon as Kyuhyun was out of earshot.
Heeyoung, my co-worker approached me. "Who was that?"
"Oh, uh, he's a guy I met at the hospital."
"I see.. Well, can't let ourselves get distracted at work~!"
"Yeah." Hmm. Actually, she isn't just a co-worker. She was my ex-classmate in middle school, but then her parents forced to enter a girls only high school, so we didn't really meet until I found this job.
I wanted to depend on myself, even though my mother is a well paid lawyer and my father is a business man, I didn't want to depend on them for money. I want to support myself. So I went around hunting for a job until I ran into Heeyoung. She told me she was working in a convenience shop and that they're looking for workers. It's pay isn't bad too.
I continued to work for a few minutes more until it was 7.20pm. "I'm off, bye Heeyoung!" shouted as I opened the door. "See you tomorrow~" She shouted back.
As I walked back home, I looked back on my day, it was the same as the other days, except that I met Kyuhyun. A small grin formed on my face as I remembered my short conversation with him.

Labels: a second chance, angst, kyumin

"Kyuhyun-ah. It's not good to spend your holidays in your room. You should play some games with your friends. Or maybe you want to come shopping with me?" My mum invited.
"Oh, okay. I would LOVE to."
Heck. I would not say that. I know what she meant by shopping. It wasn't a desirable thing to do. She would wake up me up at five in the morning just to be sure I was going with her, wake me up again a few minutes later just to ask what I wanted to wear and let me sleep until seven when I was dragged out of bed to get myself bathed and whatever I had to do. After all we had to do in the house, it would be eight. So my mum would drive all the way to the shopping centre and wait until the doors open. Yup. She'd rush in, pulling my arms. Poor me.
"No thanks. I'm pretty tired today." I told her, using my 'I'm dead tired' tone. "Then rest well.. I'll be going to the bakery later, do you want me to buy anything for you? Hotdog bread perhaps?"
"Not hungry at the moment, I'm going to take a nap now."
"I'll be back soon." She left. I had an urged to go and get changed when I wanted to kick myself, because I wanted to go to the hospital and visit the girl. But, I didn't know her room number or anything. I only knew her name.
I spent ten minutes debating if I should visit her and decided not to. It wasn't worth it to go all the way to the hospital if she wasn't there, or if she had something on.
I got changed anyway. I wanted to get some fresh air and clear my head. I took my wallet and keys along.
As I casually walked down the street, I decided that since I was outside, I might as well go through each shop just to see what they sold.
It was rather fun. There was this magic shop I went to, and the owner kept demonstrating the tricks to me. Although I wanted to buy some of the items, I resisted, how would I know if I could do the tricks correctly?
After doing what I would call, "window shopping but not so window shopping", fatigue caught up with me. I went into a convenience shop and took a cold coke bottle. Looking at the price, it was quite reasonable, so I took out $1.45 and passed the bottle to the cashier when he spoke. "Aren't you Kyuhyun?" I looked up. It was Sungmin.
"Woah, what're you doing here?!" I shouted in shock.
"Uh, I'm working here?"
"I can see that, but you live around here?"
"A few blocks away."
"I see," I paid for the coke."Hmm.. Sorry to bother, but is this job why you only visit her once a week?"
"I wouldn't put it that way, I have to study too."
"You're in high school?"
"Yeah, what about you?"
"Same here. What time is it now?" Sungmin checked his blue digital watch. "6.50"
"I think I got to go then, I'll talk to you some other time."
"Bye." I waved to him before exiting the store. I really hated time for making me leave the store so my mum wouldn't ground me if I wasn't at home.
Other than that, it was really surprising to learn that he works there. No, it was delighting to learn that he works there.
Wait, why would I be delighted to know he works there? No Cho Kyuhyun. You're still in Year two of high school. You still have a long way to go. You'll meet lots of good girls, lots of ideal girls. So stop feeling happy you know his work place now.
Stop feeling happy.

Labels: a second chance, angst, kyumin

"Kyuhyun-ah, wake up, we're home." I felt my mother shake my shoulders lightly in the car. I opened my eyes slowly and realized that we were outside our house already. I yawned before getting off the car and getting one of the bags from the car.

My mum walked ahead of my dad and I to open the door of our house. We slowly walked into our house. It was white with some photos framed and hung on the walls. The floor was wooden and there were plants near the stairs at the side of the room. I sniffed in the scent of wood, how nice it was to smell the familiar scent.

I took off my shoes and walked up to my room. It was a light shade of blue and had some posters of boybands pasted on the walls. My clothes were on the floor and bed, books thrown on my table. I was going to pack it two weeks ago but my mum got admitted into the hospital.

I began to pick up my clothes and check if they were dirty or could still be used. Some of them were clean, so I put them in a clean basket. As for the dirty ones, I place them in a basket that would be taken down later at night so I could dump them into the washing machine.

Once I finished packing the things on the floor, I began sorting out the books on my table. I separated them into school and story books. I only had less than fifteen story books, and I wasn't proud of that. It took me about twenty minutes to sort out the books and clean the table. So by time I finished, I was exhausted.

I flung myself onto my soft and comfortable bed and turned on my computer. I wanted to update my cyworld when I decided to find out more on brain tumor.

"Large tumors or tumors with extensive perifocal swelling edema inevitably lead to elevated intracranial pressure, which translates clinically into headaches, vomiting (sometimes without nausea), altered state of consciousness (somnolence, coma), dilatation of the pupil on the side of the lesion (anisocoria), papilledema. However, even small tumors obstructing the passage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may cause early signs of increased intracranial pressure." I spoke softly. I began to feel pity for Nami. She was so young, but she has brain tumor. Yet, she is so happy. I fell silent, I didn't know what to say or do to make myself feel better.

But that was only the beginning of my miseries.

Labels: a second chance, angst, kyumin

My mom was going to be discharged today. And it is going to be the last day I'll see the little girl and Sungmin. I decided to go to the garden and spend more time with them.
As I headed down, I heard someone shout at me. "MISTER!!"
It was the little girl.

She ran towards me, opening her arms while I did the same, once she was in my hands I lifted her up and swung her around before putting her on the ground again. "Mister, you're back!"
"Yes, I'm back." I patted my head and she giggled in enjoyment. Sungmin walked behind her and gave me a little smile which meant "Hello".
"Mister, what is your name?" She tugged my shirt. I bent down and placed my hand on her tiny head, "Kyuhyun is my name, what's yours?"
"Nami" she replied as soon as she heard me asking her. I chuckled.
"Kyuhyun, this is my cousin Sungmin!" She pulled Sungmin closer to her. "Minmin, this is mister Kyuhyun!!"
"I know." He laughed. We chatted for a few minutes before my cellphone rang. I picked it up. "Oh, mom, okay, I'll be there." I put down my phone and faced Nami. "Kyuhyun has to go now, I'll see you next time!"
"Really..? Then take good good care! Bye~"
"Bye Kyuhyun." Sungmin waved.
"Bye." I replied them as I began to run in the direction of the hospital.

I didn't want to leave them, I enjoyed talking with Nami and Sungmin. And ironic how a few days ago I wanted to leave this place so much. I laughed at the memory. I finally found my mom waiting for me at the entrance of the hospital. "Sorry for making you wait." I apologized to her.
"It's okay, your father was putting the bags into the car anyway." I didn't notice we were in front of our car. "Hello father." I greeted him. He grinned at me before going into the car, which my mom and I quickly followed.

During the trip back home, I could not stop thinking about Sungmin and Nami. I wanted to get out of the car and go back to the hospital. I sighed at that thought and closed my eyes.
Soon, I drifted into a sweet dream of being in the hospital with Sungmin.

Labels: a second chance, angst, kyumin